Use these records to prove and ancestor was a member of the Five Civilized Tribes.

Finding an ancestor's name on the Dawes Commission Final Rolls is the best way to prove he or she was accepted in one of these five American Indian tribes: Cherokee, Chickasaw, Choctaw, Creek, or Seminole in Indian Territory, also known as Oklahoma Territory, between 1898 to 1906. More were added by an act of Congress in 1914. People who lived outside of Oklahoma were unlikely to be on the Dawes Rolls even if they were in one of these five tribes.

The "Final Rolls" included both the approved (to receive land) and the disapproved.[1] Only about 40 percent of those who applied were accepted on the final rolls. The application packets of the other 60 percent who were rejected may still contain useful genealogical information.

Use these records if your ancestor was:

A member of either the Cherokee, Choctaw, Chickasaw, Creek, or Seminole Indian tribe in the southeastern United States.

Applicants were required to be living in Indian Territory (Oklahoma) to qualify for tribal enrollment. (The 1900 Federal census will help you determine if they were living and where).

Alive during the enrollment period between 1896 and 1905.

If your ancestor died prior to 1893, you could search for surviving children or grandchildren in the Dawes Commission records.

Origin of the Records. In 1893 Congress established a commission to exchange Indian tribal lands in the southeastern United States for new land allotments to Indian individuals, and open the remainder of land in Oklahoma for settlement by non-Indians. The Commission to the Five Civilized Tribes was also called the Dawes Commission after its chairman, Senator Dawes. More than 250,000 people applied to this commission for enrollment and land. Just over 101,000 were eventually approved from 883,772 application packets.

Content of the Records.

Enrollment cards (also called census cards) include residence, roll numbers, names of family members, relationships, ages, sex, degree of Indian blood, enrollment date, place and number, parents and their enrollment date or place, spouses, divorces, children or grandchildren.

Search for an ancestor’s name in the index. The index is arranged in tribal groups. You may need to search for the name in roughly alphabetical order by each tribe and all tribal groups listed (By Blood, Newborn, Minor, By Marriage, Freedmen and .....) in the following table of contents:

By Blood New Born Creeks by Blood Minor Creeks by Blood Creek Freedmen New Born Creek Freedmen Minor Creek Freedmen

497 559 568 572 607 613

Seminoles

By Blood and Freedmen New Born Seminoles by Blood New Born Seminole Freedmen

616 633 635

Definitions

By Blood were people who were born members of the tribe.

New Borns were children born after 1902.

Minors were children who were added to the rolls in 1906.

By Marriage were non-citizens or whites who married into the tribe.

Freedmen, Freedmen Minors, and Freedmen New Borns were former slaves of tribal members, or descendants of former slaves.

Copy the tribal group, and roll number

When you find your ancestor’s name, look at the age (or figure it out). Does it match (with in 2-3 years) the age your ancestor was in 1902? If so, write down: (a) the name of his or her tribal group, and (b) the roll number in the right column of the index.

Can’t Find a Name in the Dawes Commission Index?

Before concluding your ancestor’s name is not in the index, consider:

Only the first two letters of a name are alphabetical. After that letters may not be in order. For example, Bennett may file before Belvin.

The name may be spelled differently, for example, Anne instead of Ann, or Thos. instead of Thomas. Search for variant spellings.

Look for your ancestor by his or her English name, Indian name, middle name, nickname, initials, married name, or maiden name.

Maybe he or she was listed under a different tribe or category than you expected. Look in each of the 29 sections of the index.

Rejected Applications. Your ancestor’s application may have been rejected. The Commission eventually rejected 60% of the applications. Only a few rejected applications are in the indexes you just searched.

If your ancestor does not seem to be on the Internet, or in these books, you could ask for help by contacting: National Archives, 2600 West 7th Street, Suite 162, Fort Worth, Texas 76107, E-mail: ftworth.archives@nara.gov, Fax: 817-334-5621.

Step 2. Use the Final Rolls to find and copy the census card number

You already may have found thecensus card numberon one or more of the Internet indexes, but if not—

Find the final rolls in either a book, or a book-on-microfilm format.

United States, Commission to the Five Civilized Tribes, Final Rolls of Citizens and Freedmen of the Five Civilized Tribes in Indian Territory (1907. Reprint, Baltimore, Md.: Genealogical Publ., 2007). At various libraries (WorldCat). FHL Film 908371 item 2; Book 970.1 Un3c. The film is in the FHL 2nd floor cabinets. This book is in the FHL 2nd floor reference area.

Search the Final Rolls and copy the census card number.

Look for the tribal group and roll number you copied during Step 1.

When you find the roll number and your ancestor’s name, write down the census card number.

Step 3. Find the Census Card on Film and Copy It

You already may have found thecensus cardon one or more of the Internet indexes, but if not—

Scroll through until you find the film number of the application papers for your ancestor’s tribal group and census card number.

Write the film number of the application papers on your research log.

Retrieve the film, find, and copy the application papers.

Step 5. Look for Your Ancestor’s Name in the Letter Logs

Look for and copy your ancestor’s name in letter logs.

There are 21 letter logs which are in order first chronologically by 17 sets of years, and then alphabetically by the first two letters of the surname. Look for spill-over names at the end of each letter of the alphabet. Your ancestor’s name probably appears in only a few of them, but take a few minutes to search each log anyway. Logs list name, address, date of letter, file no., date received, subject, and action taken:

United States, Bureau of Indian Affairs, Index to Letters Received by Commission to the Five Civilized Tribes, 1897–1913, National Archives Microfilm Publications, M1314. (Washington, D.C.: National Archives, 1983). At various libraries (WorldCat). FHL Films 1694814-36.

For Further Information

For other Indian records look in the Family History Library Catalog Place Search under